– As faculty inducts 92 graduands
Pharmacy Alumni of the University of Lagos (UNILAG) has made a clarion plea to members and well-meaning pharmacists across the country to come to the rescue of students in its faculty.
Addressing a gathering of parents, distinguished pharmacists and guests at the induction/oath-taking ceremony of 92 Bachelor of Pharmacy (B.Pharm) graduands which held recently at UNILAG main auditorium, Dr Arinola Joda, secretary of the Alumni, announced that the faculty needed all the help it could get.
“We know that the government cannot do it all alone, hence our continual plea for assistance,” she said. “For the record, UNILAG Faculty of Pharmacy is doing exploits and not lazy. We are always up and doing. We are only sensitising you because we know that one or two pharmacist(s) out there can just decide to donate all to us.”
Among other things, the alumni appealed for extra precision balance, faculty generator and a bus.
Joda also used the occasion to assuage the after-school fear often nurtured by new pharmacy graduates, assuring the new inductees that the Nigeria Academy of Pharmacy (NAPharm.) has set up a platform to mentor young pharmacists like them.
“Let me reiterate, once again, that the role of a mentor is not to give you money or capital to start a venture but to develop you. It is however the mentee’s responsibility to identify who is good for him.
“It is pertinent to also warn that you cannot choose somebody in hospital pharmacy to be your mentor while you are planning to go into community pharmacy,” she said.
While rallying support for the faculty alumni, Pharm Olufunsho Okunowo, chief executive officer of Royal Priesthood Laboratory advised the new graduands to have representation in the alumni.
“This is necessary because a river that forgets its source will always struggle to remain relevant,” he cautioned.
In an apparent show of solidarity to the alumni’s appeal, three pharmaceutical companies indicated interest in meeting some of the faculty’s demands.
While Pharm. Steve Okonkwo, a PSN Fellow and managing director of Altinez Pharmaceuticals pledged N500,000 on behalf of the company, Pharm Olufunsho Okunowo announced that his firm, Royal Priesthood Laboratory, was willing to donate one analytical balance to the faculty.
The last donor, Pharm Ernest Okafor, chief executive officer of Nemitt Pharmaceuticals Limited also promised the alumni a sum of N100,000.
